Jose Humberto Gonzalez, 45, former personnel director at Howard Industries in Laurel, Miss., pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy related to the company's hiring of undocumented immigrants. On August 25, 2008, Howard Industries was the site of the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history, during which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers placed 595 immigrants under administrative arrest, nine of whom have since pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.

Gonzalez "knowingly encouraged and induced illegal aliens to reside in the United States, and knowingly concealed, harbored, and shielded illegal aliens from detection" over the course of eight years, states a U.S. Department of Justice release. He also "routinely accepted false identification documents in the hiring of illegal aliens and, even after being informed by the Social Security Administration that certain Social Security numbers did not match the names of job applicants or employees, Gonzalez nonetheless hired or continued to employ such illegal aliens," the release continued.

As a result of his plea, Gonzalez could receive a sentence of to up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. U.S. District Court Judge Keith Starrett scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 31, 2010. Gonzalez is free on bond until then. To date, the Justice Department has charged no other Howard executives, and U.S. attorneys have not released details of Gonzalez' plea agreement.

Michael Howard, president of Howard Industries, said in a statement that the company has always had a "strict policy for hiring only U.S. citizens" or properly authorized immigrants, and has instituted additional safeguards since the 2008 raid, reported the Laurel Leader-Call.

"The company has cooperated at all times with the government's investigation and the government has not accused Howard Industries of any wrongdoing," Howard said in the statement.

Previous Comments

ID

154198

Comment

I hope this puts the lie to the idea that the only jobs illegal immigrants take are jobs that American citizens won't. Six hundred manufacturing jobs were taken by people who had no right to even be in Mississippi and that is just one company in one small city. I hope Mississippians hold those jobs now. I hope they throw the book at this guy hard enough to make other personnel managers and C.E.O.'s take notice. If there was no work here for illegals they would pack up and go home.

Author

WMartin

Date

2009-12-11T15:00:18-06:00

ID

154207

Comment

WMartin, Please don't come here being ugly and spewing hatred. I see no such inflammatory "lie" put to rest here. The only think I see is someone being hung out to dry. Do you honestly think that no one else in the company noticed those 600 immigrants? There's more here than meets the eye. And I'm only going to say this once. To say that an immigrant is an "illegal" or an "alien" is feeding into nationalistic bigotry. People don't become "illegal" if they break the law. You don't call a mugger an illegal American, do you? Of course not. To pass judgment over whether someone has a right to be in Mississippi or not is above my pay grade, and I expect yours, as well.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-12-11T21:38:30-06:00

ID

154209

Comment

Punishing the companies and people who knowingly hire illegals for the cheap labor is a step in the right direction in terms of reversing the problem with illegal immigration.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2009-12-12T11:23:12-06:00

ID

154219

Comment

What's hateful about calling B.S. on the tired line that the only jobs illegal immigrants take are jobs that Americans won't? Plain and simple it's a lie. Those people weren't picking lettuce at the Howard Industries plant. Do you think in a county with almost 8% unemployment an actual citizen might take a job at a factory? To say that an immigrant is illegal is to say that the way they immigrated was outside the legal procedure. Would you prefer the term criminals? They have broken the law when they crossed our border illegally. The people who hired them are criminals also and should be held accountable. I agree with Jeff, real penalties for hiring people who don't have a legal right to work in this state would go a long way toward stopping the problem with illegal immigration. I suppose the person who gets paid to decide if they had the right to be in Mississippi spoke when they were judged to not have that right and were deported.

Author

WMartin

Date

2009-12-14T07:34:50-06:00

ID

154239

Comment

The problem with the argument, WMartin, is that you're countering an overgeneralization with an overgeneralization. Do some research into how NAFTA created tremendous unemployment in Mexico. Do so some research into how American companies recruit immigrant labor in Mexico so they can avoid paying decent wages, and provide decent working conditions and union activity. U.S. foreign and trade policies have created a mess of astounding proportions worldwide. The people coming to America in hopes of finding work—any work—aren't necessarily the villains in this picture, but by making them "illegal" and insinuating they're ripping off Americans by taking jobs, politicians are making them exactly that. If you think the only person at Howard Industries who knew they were hiring 600 undocumented workers is one middle-level manager, you're living in a dream world. Prosecuting that one guy is a show piece, and the only people suffering are the workers—again. It sure isn't Howard Industries.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-12-14T13:49:57-06:00

ID

154241

Comment

Ronni, I agree with you, most of the actual immigrants aren't villians at all. If I lived in one of those countries south of the border I would probably do the exact same thing. Faced with my family starving or sneaking into this country for work, I would put on my sneakers. Problem is, we have people suffering right here in this country and our leaders on both sides of the aisle refuse to even address the problem. Democrats and Republicans both want to exploit the immigrants, one for votes and one for cheap labor. Meanwhile, the unemployed here get the shaft.

Author

WMartin

Date

2009-12-14T14:02:41-06:00

ID

154247

Comment

Put that way, WMartin, we seem to be on the same page. At the same time, please be aware that words have power. "Illegal" has intentional consequences in how we all perceive some of the workers (or the unemployed) who are suffering. The immigration picture is not a zero-sum game. If one sees it that way, it is buying into a political and money-motivated world view that says "we" lose when "you" prosper. It's not true, and not that simple.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-12-14T14:28:10-06:00